Outdoor Unit and Air Conditioner Having the Outdoor Unit

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides an outdoor unit including: a housing; an air blower that is disposed at an upper part of the housing to supply air from the inside of the housing to the outside of the housing; a heat exchanger that is disposed on a side of the housing; and electric components that are disposed on a side of the housing. A rotational axis of the air blower is inclined towards the heat exchanger side relative to the vertical direction of the housing, and an end of the air blower on a sucking side is disposed at a position overlapped with the electric components in the height direction.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent application serial no. 2014-167090, filed on Aug. 20, 2014, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an outdoor unit with an air blower, and an air conditioner having the outdoor unit.

Recently, there has been an increased demand for energy saving in an air conditioner. As an outdoor unit of a large-size air conditioner used for buildings and the like, there has been known a structure in which air is sucked from a heat exchanger whose three side surfaces of a housing are covered in a U-shape to keep heat exchange performance to the inside of the housing, and the air is discharged upward in the vertical direction from an air blower disposed at an upper part of the housing. Further, in order to improve maintainability and to secure safety, an electric component box is disposed at an upper part on the side of the housing where the heat exchanger is not disposed.

As representative means for realizing energy saving in the outdoor unit of an air conditioner, the followings are conceivable: (1) ventilation resistance inside the housing is reduced; (2) the wind velocity distribution of the air passing through the heat exchanger is reduced to improve the heat exchange efficiency; and (3) the non-uniformity of the wind velocity distribution to the air blower is suppressed to improve the efficiency of the air blower.

However, in a conventional top blowing-type outdoor unit, the ventilation resistance is increased by the electric component box disposed near the air blower, and a load on the air blower is increased. Thus, the power consumption is disadvantageously increased. Further, the electric component box disposed near the air blower blocks a flow of air, and the wind velocity distribution on the sucking side of the air blower becomes nonuniform.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-137610, an electric component box and an air blower are disposed at positions overlapped with each other in the height direction. In such a structure, the flow of air sucked by the air blower does not pass through the vicinity of the electric component box, and the ventilation resistance becomes small. Thus, the wind velocity distribution on the sucking side of the air blower is uniformed.

However, the air blower is located close to a heat exchanger on the side opposite to the electric component box, and thus the air is intensively sucked near the air blower. Accordingly, the wind velocity distribution inside the heat exchanger becomes nonuniform. When the wind velocity distribution inside the heat exchanger becomes nonuniform, the heat exchange efficiency is lowered. In addition, the ventilation resistance of the heat exchanger is increased. Further, in the structure in which the air is sucked from the side surfaces and discharged upward in the vertical direction, the ventilation resistance is increased due to a vertically-bent air flow (hereinafter, referred to as “bent flow”), and the power consumption is increased.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11 (1999)-264626, an air blower is disposed obliquely relative to the vertical direction of a housing. The air blower is obliquely inclined, so that the amount of air sucked from a lower part of a heat exchanger is increased, and the wind velocity distribution inside the heat exchanger is uniformed. Further, the air sucked from a side surface is discharged obliquely upward. Accordingly, the bent angle of the bent flow is moderated, and the ventilation resistance is reduced.

However, in the structure of Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11 (1999)-264626 in which the air blower is obliquely disposed, if an electric component box is disposed at an upper part of the housing, the ventilation resistance is increased. Accordingly, in the structure adopted in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11 (1999)-264626 in which a machine room storing a compressor, an accumulator, and an electric component box and a heat exchange room storing a heat exchanger are stored in a housing while separated in the vertical direction, a support member for supporting the heat exchange room located at an upper part of the housing is increased, resulting in a cost increase. Further, the electric component box is stored in the machine room located at a lower part of the housing, and thus the maintainability is deteriorated. In addition, the unit is likely to be affected by a puddle of rainwater and moisture, leading to deterioration in safety.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to improve the heat exchange efficiency and to reduce the ventilation resistance of a heat exchanger by uniforming the wind velocity distribution inside the heat exchanger. Further, another object of the present invention is to obtain an air conditioner with an outdoor unit that suppresses a flow of air around an electric component box to reduce the ventilation resistance while securing the safety and maintainability of the electric component box.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an outdoor unit including: a housing; an air blower that is disposed at an upper part of the housing to supply air from the inside of the housing to the outside of the housing; a heat exchanger that is disposed on a side of the housing; and electric components that are disposed on a side of the housing. A rotational axis of the air blower is inclined towards the heat exchanger side relative to the vertical direction of the housing, and an end of the air blower on a sucking side is disposed at a position overlapped with the electric components in the height direction.

According to the outdoor unit of the present invention, the heat exchange efficiency can be improved and the ventilation resistance of the heat exchanger can be reduced by uniforming the wind velocity distribution inside the heat exchanger. Further, the ventilation resistance can be reduced by suppressing a flow of air around the electric component box while securing the safety and maintainability of the electric component box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner for showing a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view for showing a representative conventional configuration;

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner for showing a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the outdoor unit of an air conditioner for showing the second embodiment of the present invention while viewed from the discharge side of an air blower;

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of the outdoor unit of an air conditioner for showing the second embodiment of the present invention while viewed from the heat exchanger side;

FIG. 6 is a top view of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner for showing a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of the outdoor unit of an air conditioner for showing the third embodiment of the present invention in a state where a housing cover is removed;

FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner for showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner for showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention while viewed from the discharge side of an air blower.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

An outdoor unit of the present invention includes: a housing; an air blower that is disposed at an upper part of the housing to supply air from the inside of the housing to the outside of the housing; a heat exchanger that is disposed on a side of the housing; and electric components that are disposed on a side of the housing. The rotational axis of the air blower is inclined towards the heat exchanger side relative to the vertical direction of the housing, and an end of the air blower on the sucking side is disposed at a position overlapped with the electric components in the height direction. According to the outdoor unit of the present invention, the heat exchange efficiency can be improved and the ventilation resistance of the heat exchanger can be reduced by uniforming the wind velocity distribution inside the heat exchanger. Further, the ventilation resistance can be reduced by suppressing a flow of air around the electric component box while securing the safety and maintainability of the electric component box. Specifically, the air can be easily sucked from a lower part of the heat exchanger by the effect of inclination of the air blower. Thus, the wind velocity distribution inside the heat exchanger is uniformed, and the heat exchange efficiency is improved. Further, the air heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger is discharged, from the air blower, obliquely upward (the direction apart from the heat exchanger) relative to the vertical direction on the side where the heat exchanger is not disposed. Thus, the air hardly flows in from the heat exchanger again, and the heat exchange efficiency can be advantageously improved. Further, the air is sucked from the side surface inside the housing, and is discharged obliquely upward relative to the vertical direction. Accordingly, the bent angle of the bent flow is moderated, and the ventilation resistance inside the housing is reduced. The diameter of the propeller of the air blower is limited in the short side direction of the side of the housing. However, since a large space can be secured by the effect of the oblique arrangement of the air blower, the diameter of the propeller of the air blower can be increased. The efficiency of the air blower at the time of the same air volume is improved by increasing the diameter of the propeller of the air blower, and the energy saving can be realized. Further, the electric component box and a wing end of the air blower on the sucking side are located at positions overlapped with each other in the height direction. Accordingly, the flow of air around the electric component box can be suppressed, and the ventilation resistance can be reduced. In addition, the wind velocity distribution of the air blower on the sucking side is uniformed, and thus the efficiency of the air blower can be improved.

First Embodiment

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. A configuration of an outdoor unit 10 of an air conditioner according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of the outdoor unit. The air conditioner is configured using the outdoor unit 10 and an indoor unit (not shown) which are connected to each other through a refrigerant pipe. Cooling and heating operations are performed by carrying heat using a refrigerant.

The outdoor unit 10 mainly includes an air blower 101, a motor 103, a clamp 104 for supporting the motor, a heat exchanger 105, a compressor 106, an accumulator 107, and an electric component box 108 that stores electric components for controlling the compressor, the accumulator, and the air blower.

The flow of air inside the outdoor unit 10 is shown using thick line arrows in FIG. 1. The heat of the air flowing in from the heat exchanger 105 is exchanged with the refrigerant delivered from the compressor 106 to the heat exchanger 105, and the temperature is changed. The air with the changed temperature is discharged from the outdoor unit 10 through the air blower 101 rotated by the motor 103.

The effect of the outdoor unit according to the present invention will be described in comparison with FIG. 2 for showing a conventional configuration. In the conventional configuration of FIG. 2, the air flowing in from the heat exchanger 105 located on a side of a housing is discharged upward in the vertical direction by the air blower 101, and thus the bent angle of the bent flow becomes nearly 90° inside the housing of the outdoor unit 10, causing an increase in ventilation resistance.

On the other hand, in the configuration of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the rotational axis of the air blower 101 is disposed while inclined from the vertical direction so as to face the heat exchanger. Thus, the air flowing in from the heat exchanger 105 smoothly flows to reach the air blower 101. Since the bent angle of the bent flow becomes moderate, the ventilation resistance inside the housing is reduced.

Further, the heat-exchanged air discharged upward in the vertical direction is sucked into the heat exchanger 105 again in the conventional configuration, and the efficiency of the heat exchange has been deteriorated.

However, as shown by the arrows showing the flow of air on the discharge side of the air blower 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 in the present invention, the air discharged from the air blower 101 flows obliquely upward in the direction opposite to the sucking surface of the heat exchanger 105, and thus the flow sucked into the inside of the housing through the heat exchanger again can be suppressed.

Next, attention will be paid to the flow around the electric component box 108. In the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 2, the velocity of the air around the electric component box 108 disposed near the air blower 101 is fast, and the electric component box 108 blocks the flow of air reaching the air blower 101, thus causing an increase in ventilation resistance. Further, since the electric component box 108 blocks the flow, the wind velocity distribution in a cross section on the sucking side of the air blower 101 becomes nonuniform.

However, as shown in FIG. 1, the heat exchanger 105 is disposed on the side of the housing in the extended direction of the rotational axis of the air blower 101 on the sucking side, and the air blower 101 and the electric component box 108 are disposed while overlapped with each other in the height direction. Accordingly, the air can be guided to the air blower 101 so as not to flow around the electric component box, and the ventilation resistance and the wind velocity distribution inside the housing can be advantageously uniformed. Since the ventilation resistance is reduced and the wind velocity distribution is uniformed, the power consumption of the air blower at the time of the same air volume can be reduced, and energy saving can be realized.

Second Embodiment

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIG. 3 to FIG. 5. FIG. 3 shows a side cross-sectional view of the outdoor unit, FIG. 4 shows an external perspective view viewed from the discharge side of the air blower, and FIG. 5 shows an external perspective view viewed from the heat exchanger side. A bell mouth 301 that effectively guides the smooth flow of air to suppress a vortex is disposed around the air blower 101. Further, these constitutional components are covered with a housing cover 102. The sucking side of the bell mouth 301 is embedded inside the housing, and the bell mouth is disposed at a position overlapped with the electric component box 108 in the height direction.

In this case, the electric component box 108 is disposed at an upper part of the housing along the housing cover 102 on the side where the heat exchanger 105 is not disposed, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. Therefore, a worker is not required to crouch to maintain the inside of the electric component box 108 by removing the housing cover 102, and the maintainability can be enhanced.

Since the air is intensively sucked around the air blower 101 in the conventional configuration of FIG. 2, the wind velocity distribution of the air passing through the inside of the heat exchanger 105 becomes nonuniform.

However, a sucking air passage is widened by the bell mouth 301 that is obliquely embedded inside the housing in the configuration of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 to FIG. 5. Accordingly, the wind velocity distribution in the width direction of the heat exchanger 105 is uniformed. Further, the sucking side of the rotational axis of the air blower 101 is inclined towards the heat exchanger 105. Thus, the amount of air sucked from a lower part of the heat exchanger 105 is increased, and the wind velocity distribution inside the heat exchanger 105 in the height direction is uniformed. The wind velocity distribution of the heat exchanger 105 is uniformed, and thus the efficiency of the heat exchange is improved. In addition, an input of the air blower 101 is reduced due to the reduction of the ventilation resistance of the heat exchanger 105, and energy saving effects can be obtained. Further, the sucking side of the bell mouth is disposed at a position overlapped with the electric component box in the height direction, and thus the flow of air around the electric component box is suppressed. Accordingly, the ventilation resistance inside the housing can be reduced, and the wind velocity distribution on the sucking side of the air blower can be advantageously uniformed.

In this case, as a representative configuration of the heat exchanger 105, a U-shaped heat exchanger that sucks the air from three surfaces among the side surfaces of the housing is adopted as shown in FIG. 5. However, the heat exchanger 105 is not limited to this shape, but may be shaped so as to suck the air from one surface, two surfaces, or four surfaces.

Third Embodiment

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention in which the shape of the heat exchanger 105 is changed will be described using FIG. 6 and FIG. 7. FIG. 6 is a top view, and FIG. 7 is an external perspective view in which the housing cover is removed.

As described above, the shape of the heat exchanger 105 is not limited to the U-shape in which the air is sucked from three surfaces. For example, the heat exchanger 105 may be shaped so as to suck the air from four surfaces as shown in FIG. 7. In this case, for example, the electric component box 108 is disposed on the side of the housing where the heat exchanger 105 is not located.

The rotational axis of the air blower 101 is disposed while inclined towards the heat exchanger 105. The area of the bell mouth 301 on the sucking side is enlarged, and thus the wind velocity distribution in the width direction of the heat exchanger 105 that sucks the air from four surfaces can be uniformed. Further, the amount of air sucked from a lower part of the heat exchanger 105 is increased by the effect of inclination of the air blower 101, and the wind velocity distribution of the heat exchanger 105 in the height direction can be uniformed. Further, the bell mouth 301 and the electric component box 108 are overlapped with each other in the height direction to suppress the flow of air around the electric component box. Accordingly, the ventilation resistance inside the housing can be reduced, and the wind velocity distribution on the sucking side of the air blower can be advantageously uniformed.

Fourth Embodiment

Next, a fourth embodiment in which the shape of the bell mouth is changed will be described using FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of the outdoor unit.

It is not necessary for an enlarged part on the sucking side of the bell mouth 301 to be symmetrical with respect to the rotational axis of the air blower 101 between the side of the heat exchanger 105 and the side of the electric component box 108. For example, the length of an arc 801 of the enlarged part at the suction port of the bell mouth 301 on the side of the electric component box 108 can be increased as shown in FIG. 8, and the length of an arc 802 of the enlarged part at the suction port of the bell mouth 301 on the side of the heat exchanger 105 can be reduced. By adopting such a shape, the amount of air sucked from a lower part of the heat exchanger 105 can be increased, which is an object of the top blowing-type outdoor unit 10. In addition, the wind velocity distribution of the heat exchanger 105 in the height direction can be reduced.

Fifth Embodiment

Next, a fifth embodiment in which two air blowers 101 are used will be described using FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is an external perspective view viewed from the discharge side of the air blowers 101.

The electric component box 108 is disposed at the position similar to the case in which one air blower is used, and the maintainability and safety are secured. The efficiency of the air blowers in the same air volume can be enhanced similarly to the effect of enlarging the diameters of propellers by using two air blowers 101, and the energy saving can be realized. Further, wing ends of the air blowers 101 on the sucking side are overlapped with the electric component box 108 in the height direction. Thus, the flow of air around the electric component box can be suppressed, and the ventilation resistance inside the housing can be reduced.

In FIG. 9, the rotational axes of the air blowers 101 are parallel to each other. However, it is not necessary for the rotational axes of the plural air blowers 101 to be parallel to each other as long as the rotational axes of the air blowers 101 are inclined towards the heat exchanger 105 relative to the vertical direction and are overlapped with the electric component box 108 in the height direction. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An outdoor unit of an air conditioner comprising: a housing; an air blower that is disposed at an upper part of the housing to supply air from the inside of the housing to the outside of the housing; a heat exchanger that is disposed on a side of the housing; and electric components that are disposed on a side of the housing, wherein a rotational axis of the air blower is inclined towards the heat exchanger side relative to the vertical direction of the housing, and an end of the air blower on a sucking side is disposed at a position overlapped with the electric components in the height direction.
 2. The outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air blower is configured in such a manner that the rotational axis of the air blower is inclined relative to the vertical direction of the housing so that the electric components are located on the lower side.
 3. The outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a bell mouth is disposed around the air blower, a suction port of the bell mouth is configured to be embedded inside the housing, and an end of the bell mouth on the sucking side is disposed at a position overlapped with the electric components in the height direction.
 4. The outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the length of an arc of an enlarged part of the bell mouth on the sucking side is longer on the electric component side than on the heat exchanger side.
 5. The outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein plural air blowers are provided.
 6. An air conditioner comprising: an indoor unit; and the outdoor unit according to claim
 1. 